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A review by kathydavie
Firespell by Chloe Neill
3.0
First in The Dark Elite urban-fantasy young adult series set in a contemporary Chicago and based in a girls' boarding school.
The Story
Poor Lily Parker is stuck attending St. Sophia's School for Girls in Chicago. A far cry from her rural upper New York public school! All because her parents got the chance to do philosophical research in Germany for two years. Two years!! Lily just doesn't understand why she couldn't have stayed in Sagamore with her best friend, Ashley, and finish school where all her friends are!
And it's a cold introduction to her new school. The only person who seems interested in being friends is Scout Green. Fortunately, Scout is one of her suitemates but even Scout has her secrets. For just as long as it takes Lily to spy them out anyway. The results are…well, let's just say, it's bittersweet as Lily gets pulled into Scout's nocturnal activities.
The Characters
It's got all the usual. A snotty brat pack and a cold-hearted headmistress. Parents who are hiding some pretty major secrets. The class recluse with a magic touch on the cello. And BFFs with a goth sense of style.
My Take
I will say that I enjoyed this and I would like to read more. It's not a series I would collect—I like her Chicagoland Vampires much better. And primarily that is due to the target audience for this series. Neill does a good job of presenting the characters as teens and I do love the zingers and the slang the kids use. It is obviously centered on her young adult audience with Neill creating teen-to-teen and teen-to-adult interactions very much from a teen perspective. It reads very true in this respect.
I do have to wonder why it's so impossible for Lily to share some pretty obvious issues. Why not ask her parents why Foley seems to have an odd idea of their professional activities? Why not ask Scout the meaning of that new marking on her back? And why does she have to actually consider whether she'd rat her friends out? I wish Neill had created more tension in the "let's rescue Scout" episode. Bit tame, that.
The Title
I suppose the title, Firespell, is appropriate as it is the primary power of one of the characters in the book.
The Story
Poor Lily Parker is stuck attending St. Sophia's School for Girls in Chicago. A far cry from her rural upper New York public school! All because her parents got the chance to do philosophical research in Germany for two years. Two years!! Lily just doesn't understand why she couldn't have stayed in Sagamore with her best friend, Ashley, and finish school where all her friends are!
And it's a cold introduction to her new school. The only person who seems interested in being friends is Scout Green. Fortunately, Scout is one of her suitemates but even Scout has her secrets. For just as long as it takes Lily to spy them out anyway. The results are…well, let's just say, it's bittersweet as Lily gets pulled into Scout's nocturnal activities.
The Characters
It's got all the usual. A snotty brat pack and a cold-hearted headmistress. Parents who are hiding some pretty major secrets. The class recluse with a magic touch on the cello. And BFFs with a goth sense of style.
My Take
I will say that I enjoyed this and I would like to read more. It's not a series I would collect—I like her Chicagoland Vampires much better. And primarily that is due to the target audience for this series. Neill does a good job of presenting the characters as teens and I do love the zingers and the slang the kids use. It is obviously centered on her young adult audience with Neill creating teen-to-teen and teen-to-adult interactions very much from a teen perspective. It reads very true in this respect.
I do have to wonder why it's so impossible for Lily to share some pretty obvious issues. Why not ask her parents why Foley seems to have an odd idea of their professional activities? Why not ask Scout the meaning of that new marking on her back? And why does she have to actually consider whether she'd rat her friends out? I wish Neill had created more tension in the "let's rescue Scout" episode. Bit tame, that.
The Title
I suppose the title, Firespell, is appropriate as it is the primary power of one of the characters in the book.